Yesterday morning, I was playing around with my lab putty, and had to leave the studio for a couple of minutes. I came back to the lid of the tin, but no lab putty anywhere in sight. Fortunately, Vala’s desk stash was as far as it went. Neatly recovered, with only a few bites taken out. :D
© C. Ford.
That’s hilarious. She keeps a stash of cool stuff? Does she have little stashes all over her haunts, or just one big one? People like stashing stuff too… maybe you should make her a teeny little cupboard to put her stash in. :-D
Rats are much like dragons when it comes to hoards. They all must have one, and yes, they are constantly thieving whatever, to add to their hoard. I frequently have to go hoard hunting to find bottles of nail polish I forget to put away, and so on. If I leave lip balm out, forget it, it’s toast by the time I find it. They all have multiple stashes, and of course, get quite distressed if they discover me pawing through it, so it’s promptly moved once I’m away or not looking. :D
This is Vala having tea on my desk; the rathaus is just behind her, that’s one stash place, shared by all, thieved by all.
Hm, I wonder whether anyone’s rats have ever gotten into their “stash” -- stoned rats.
I saw a really funny video on youtube of a cat that was chewing on someone’s plant and got goofy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO6Y1DVKCf0
They will, if they can, and it’s damned difficult to keep rats out of things. They can open drawers, climb walls to an extent, and so on. They can use the flimsiest edge to climb, too, we’re talking a quarter inch here. Sometimes less. I often find posters and such on the floor after an unsuccessful bid at the high shelves. And I don’t hang anything low. They can also ‘chimney climb’. They can also jump remarkable heights. I’ve had more than one who can do 6 feet easy. They can scale any cloth they can get to.
Rats enjoy altered states, at least my chemical crews do. Which is why you can’t leave a bottle of windex or lysol around, either. Or any kind of glue. Or weed. Or anything else. They managed to kite a bottle of my meds one time. No overdoses, but a bunch of happily napping rats. I keep my meds rooms away these days. They’ll eat catmint, like cats, but it doesn’t have the same effect, just makes them sorta sleepy. They’ll go after all herbs, any grasses, and all your house plants, too. They are prodigious diggers, and your plants won’t have any roots left. A single rat is perfectly capable when it comes to moving objects much larger and heavier than themselves. Mine can shove a 5 lb rock out of the way with ease. They’ll make off with your shoes if you’re stupid enough to leave them around, and anything else that looks remotely interesting. I used to let Alfie have ‘whole house’ days a couple times a week. One day, I noticed him dragging a loaf of bread back to the studio. It had been up on a high counter.
If you have a glass of wine, they’ll pester you to death until you pour some out for them. They prefer beer, and will drink themselves silly if you let them, not a good idea in any case, but rats also can’t burp. They can fart.
Lab putty?
This kind.
Caine @ 5
So, there’s quite a range of things that are rattily possible.
Ice Swimmer, oh yes. And you always find out about more, after every time you think you have ratproofed everything. It’s just a challenge to them.